4 New Reasons to Visit Miami

Ambitious megaprojects—like the man-made 44-acre Brickell Key—have long shaped Miami. But the next 18 months will be a watershed moment for development, as major institutions and game-changing architectural efforts open across the city.

Brickell City Centre

The Brickell neighborhood already bristled with newly built office and residential towers before work began in 2012 on this $1.05 billion cluster of buildings along the Miami River. One of the coolest parts of the project—scheduled to open in stages with hundreds of condos, the 352-room East Miami hotel, and 500,000 square feet of retail—is the wavy “Climate Ribbon” roof that regulates air flow and collects rainwater for reuse.

Faena District

Argentinian real estate impresario Alan Faena aims to replicate his Buenos Aires success with this visionary four-square-block build. A 169-room hotel, a tower of multi­million-dollar condos, and restaurants from Francis Mallmann and Paul Qui are open now; an OMA/Rem Koolhaas–designed performing arts space is coming soon.

The 2013 opening of the Pérez Art Museum Miami’s new building, partially financed by collector Jorge Pérez, sparked an art-
world arms race for South Florida vanity projects. Up next? The Institute of Contemporary Art, with financial backing from Irma and Norman Braman, is at work on a new home in the Design District. Originally set to open in 2016, it is now slated for mid-2017.

On Biscayne Bay in Downtown’s Museum Park, this yet-to-open $307 million science center will have exhibits like a massive 500,000-gallon aquarium and a 250-seat planetarium, all conceived by Grimshaw Architects, which did the $1.4 billion Fulton Center in New York City.